Power Within One-Shots
by dmoose18
Summary: Scenes from the old version of Power Within that will not be included in the rewrite, but were too good not to post!


**A/N:**

 **Hello everyone! Been a while since you've seen me upload anything, eh? Well, there's a multitude of reasons and excuses I could throw out, but the bottom line is that I don't have the same passion for some of my stories anymore. It's a roadblock that many writers I work with are running up against, including myself, Xman, and Sivam. Unfortunately, this means that the drought of content for you all to read will continue for the foreseeable future. However, not all hope is lost!**

 **First of all, Xman and I are rewriting Power Within from the ground up. We messed up big time on our last attempt, and got too carried away with the smaller ideas and plot points that don't carry the story. In this new version, there will be significant changes that I truly believe you will all enjoy. I know I'm having a lot more fun with the story now, and that's what truly matters. If we're not having fun, we're less likely to write! This means that all of the material that we had pre-written in anticipation of future story arcs is now worthless trash...or is it?**

 **False! While these scenes may not have any correlation to the Power Within we are about to write, they will give you a small taste of what was to come. I had a lot of fun writing these, and it would be a shame to waste them. Knowing that there won't be any true releases for a while, I saw it as a perfect opportunity to shoot these little scenes out to tide you all over until regular content resumes. It's not much, but it's the best we have right now.**

 **There are a total of three that I currently plan to release, and that number may increase depending on what I can dig up. Be on the lookout for the next one of these in a few weeks.**

* * *

 _I let you die._

Cell lifted his foot up from where he had crushed the android girl's head, looking satisfied with his work. "Ahh, wonderful. Now that the piece of mechanical trash is dealt with, we can move onto more pressing business." The bio-android glanced at Gohan for a moment, then turned back towards where he'd slammed Ruby into the ground.

The Saiyan shut his eyes, not wanting to see any more. He balled his fists tightly and started to cry. _I always do. I always let everyone down in the end. Now everyone is going to die because of me. First I let Penny die, and now-_

"Unfortunately, little brat, you are next on the list." Gohan's eyes shot open to the sight of Cell hoisting Ruby up by her neck, she was barely conscious and in no shape to fight back.

 _No, not Ruby! Why?! Why can't I save anyone!_ His face began to contort in anger, a low growl escaping his throat. "Cell, put her down now!" He shouted.

Dr. Gero's creation simply smirked at Gohan, clearly unperturbed by the boy's implied threat. He looked back at Ruby and spoke to her. "It seems that Gohan has grown quite attached to you. That interests me, I just can't help but wonder how furious it would make him if I _snapped your little neck._ " The bio-android began to tighten his hand around the crimsonette's throat. Her cries of pain were barely audible, but Gohan saw the look on her face, he knew that if he didn't unleash his power now...

 _I can't let this happen...I won't...I WON'T LET THIS HAPPEN ANYMORE!_

With that, he closed his eyes, turned his head to the sky, and let a powerful scream of primal fury erupt from within. All of the pain, the anguish, the self loathing, and the vengeful anger that had been swelling inside him was released in form of a violent shock wave of golden energy, causing mighty gusts of wind which blew everyone in the vicinity, save Cell, off of their feet. Along with the wind came incredibly fierce tremors, with cracks and fissures formulating in the ground around Gohan, as if the earth was crumbling under the intense pressure of his wrath.

Meanwhile, Weiss, Blake, and Yang were struggling just to stay standing, the wind knocking them over and the ground shaking beneath their unsteady feet. It was as if Hell had been unleashed right before their very eyes.

The Schnee heiress stabbed Myrtenaster into the ground to try and hoist herself upright. "What the devil is going on here!? I swear if another piece of rubble knocks me over I w-OOF!"

Yang, who normally would have made a pun relating to "rubble" in this situation, was too engrossed by Gohan's miraculous surge of power. _Weiss had a point, what the heck is happening? I've never seen the kid like this before…I guess the thought of Ruby getting hurt really pushed him over the edge, but all of this power, it's incredible! I can feel it rising, and fast!_

Cell gazed at Gohan in a curious fashion, then he remembered what had happened with Vegeta. _Wait a minute...the boy is ascending! Well then, if he's anything like the prince, then this should be an interesting fight. The perfect opponent to test my new perfect power against._ He chuckled to himself, then called out to the Saiyan. "That's it boy, let your power go so we can fight!"

Gohan growled and shouted at the bio-android. "LET HER GO CELL!"

 _Oh, I suppose I do still have that Rose girl by the neck. Maybe if I squeeze a little harder he'll speed up that transformation._ Cell smiled at Gohan smugly and held Ruby up for him to see. "You mean this girl right here? No, I think I'll keep her right where she is. What are you going to do about it, brat?"

Gohan's eyes snapped wide open, and he let out yet another scream of fury as the last of his latent power exploded outward. With this final shockwave, a massive dust cloud was kicked up, shielding the boy from the view of all spectators. After a few more moments, the winds and tremors ceased, allowing those who had been knocked down to finally get to their feet and observe what had happened.

Blake was the first to see him. As the smoke cleared, the first thing that she noticed was his flame-like golden aura burning wildly, with sparks of electricity dancing around him. His muscles were bulkier, and his hair was spiked upward except for one low hanging bang on the right side of his forehead. It was obvious he had undergone some sort of transformation, but wasn't he already a Super Saiyan? What did that make this, Super Saiyan 2?

When she was able to get a clearer look at his face, what the faunus saw startled her. His eyes...they weren't the eyes of the friend she knew. They weren't the eyes of the happy, intelligent, food loving warrior that she had met during the first few weeks of school. Nor were they the eyes of the incredibly powerful yet kind and caring Super Saiyan side of him that she had just recently been acquainted with. These eyes were different...there was only one emotion that could be perceived from them.

Rage.

Pure, unadulterated rage, driven by a desire for vengeance. She knew because she'd seen that look many times before. If one was to look into the eyes of Adam Taurus without his mask on, it would be a perfect mirror of Gohan's expression at the moment. That was something which truly scared Blake, it took everything she had not to turn tail and run, she had to remember that Gohan wasn't like Adam.

The Saiyan warrior stared Cell down, the killing intent rolling off of him in palpable waves. He then spoke in a low, but clearly venomous tone. "I told you to let her go Cell. You should have listened."

Gohan phased out of sight, and a fraction of a second later his fist was planted firmly in Cell's midsection, catching the bio-android by surprise and causing him to cough up a mauve shade of blood. Reeling from the pain, he dropped Ruby and took several steps backwards, clutching his stomach. The newly ascended Saiyan followed that up with a shout and a powerful roundhouse kick that knocked Cell through several walls.

After it was clear that his opponent wouldn't be getting up for a while, Gohan walked back over to where the crimsonette now lay on the ground. He knelt down next to her, took her head in his hands, and propped her up against his body. After a moment she registered that he was holding her and running his hand through her hair. A small smile graced her slightly marred features. "Hey there...Gohan. Thanks...for saving...me."

Without a word, he picked her up bridal style and phased out again, this time re-appearing next to the rest of her team. "Ruby!" they all shouted simultaneously, and ran over to their injured leader.

Gohan carefully laid her back down on the ground, and spoke in a slightly softer tone than the one he had used earlier with Cell, but still with a hard edge to it. "I'm sorry Ruby, this is all my fault. I didn't think stuff would turn out this way...please forgive me." He looked up towards Yang, who was now kneeling on the opposite side of her sister, clearly worried about her condition. "I'm going to leave her with you. Make sure you stay away from the fighting, things are about to get ugly."

The blonde brawler smiled sadly. "And It wasn't ugly before?" Gohan shot her a look and she relented. "Alright alright, I promise we'll stay away. Not like I want to go up against that creep now anyway, he'd kick my crap in. He's all yours Gohan, but promise me one thing." Lilac eyes flashed red for a moment, a grimace twisting the usually comedic girl's face into a hate filled visage. "Make him pay for what he's done."

The Saiyan rose to his feet, turned around, and walked a couple of steps. But before he got too far, he stopped and turned his head to glance at Yang. He had a smirk on his face that, if she didn't know Gohan any better, she would have described as evil and malicious. The words he spoke next made her doubt that though.

"Trust me Yang, by the time I'm done with him, he'll be begging for death."

* * *

 **A/N:**

 **Short but sweet! I truly enjoyed finally getting to write that badass Gohan we all know and love. I contemplated going back and adding more, but I like it the way it is now. In case you were wondering, Penny is the Android girl referred to in the first paragraph. I couldn't help but make the parallel between her and 16, it was just too perfect.**

 **Also, if anyone was wondering what pun relating to "rubble" Yang thought up, unfortunately I wrote this so long ago that I can't remember! I can tell you for sure that there was a clear example in my mind when I wrote that, but it's long since receded to the deepest depths of my mind. If anyone can think of some good ones, though, put them in your reviews!**

 **Another line some of you may have caught on to was Cell's internal dialogue when Gohan first begins the transformation. He references Vegeta when making sense of Gohan's transformation, which is due to the fact that we intended for Vegeta to be the first Super Saiyan 2. Since Gohan wasn't present for the Cell Games, we figured we'd throw the Prince a bone, he deserved it. Maybe that's a scene I WILL write someday if you guys want to know more about how things would have gone on the DBZ end of things :)**

 **That's all I've got for today! Until next time!**


End file.
